Comprehensive Exams

The department offers the following overarching guidelines for comprehensive exams in the subfields of Theory, American, Comparative, International Relations, Quantitative Methods, and Formal Theory. 

• The Exam Period for all subfields is one or two days, with continuous blocks not to exceed 8 hours each. 
• Each year the department chair will appoint one person in each subfield to coordinate exams in that field, on a rotating basis. 
• Exams will be offered once a year during the month of September. Re-takes are scheduled for December.  
• Subfields will retain autonomy over all aspects of the exam process not specifically addressed above. 

Detailed exam guidelines for each subfield can be found in the menu to the left.